Retractable wheel mounting for aircraft



' March 28, 1944. c, WASEIGE RETRACTABLE WHEEL MOUNTING FOR AIRCRAFT Filed Aug. 4, 1939 -2 Sheets-Sheet l aawfgf? March 28, 1944. c. R. WASEIGE RETRACTABLE WHEEL MOUNTING FOR AIRCRAFT Filed Aug. 4, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a 7 wqwezy @atented Mar. race EL MENUNTHNG lFfilR smartest? @lcarles Raymond Waseige, hueil, France; vested in the Alien Property @ustodlah.

Annlicatlon August Q1, 1939, Serial No. access lln France eatember it, i193? screams. (or. sc -Pica) ..heel in rotation betel comes into conwith the ground, this oeing done to avoid crating the pneumatic tyre on landing, parlarly on hard surfaces, such as concrete tracks example.

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By way non-limitative examples three different embodiments of t o 'iatically illustrated in inventlon are diathe annexed drawwhich:

i is a side view of hell no position for landin rig. 2 is a similar view of this same landing but in the retracted. position.

3 is similar to Fig. l and shows a modified embodiment.

l shows a further modified embodiment.

in the exemplary embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2, there is provided a circular track which is concentric with the stationary pin 2 of the pivot law 3 for the landing struts 3 and said track l is carried by the structure of the aeroplane in such a manner that during the lowering of the landing gear, 1. e., during rotation of the landing struts d about the stationary pivot pin 2 the tyre rolls on said track and rotates the wheel 5 in the same direction as it has to rotate in when the aeroplane is rolling along the ground. Furthermore. the rim of the wheel carries on each side a set of blades 5, the blades of which are so constructed that the relative wind keeps up and accelerates the rotary movement thus imparted to the wheel. Optionally, said sets of blades may be eliminated and the track may remain alone.

The track may be movable on the aeroplane and be so controlled that it only comes into contact with the tyre by the action of a device which is driven in synchronlsm with the landing gear lowering mechanism.

An embodiment thereof is illustrated in Fig. 3. In. this embodiment the track la is pivoted to the aircraft structure at a stationary point ll and it is connected by a link 9 to the control means m for the locking device of the landin gear, which device is schematically illustrated at M. When the landing gear is locked in its retracted position, the track la is out of engagement with the landing wheel 8 but on the pilot actuating landing gear the control means it) to unloclr the landing gear and cause it to move to its landing position the limit il urges the track to to root: about the pivot into engagement with the wheel Further a stationary hood 93 covers the front hall of the crown of blades l when the landing wheel is in the retracted position.

in the embodiment illustrated a gear wheel is secured to the wheel t coaxially there with; it is for instance lreyerl on the wheel axle. Said gear wheel it: meshes with an internally toothed gear wheel portion l carried by that member ill of the landing gear which is pivoted at ill to the landing strut 3 and this gear wheel portion is concentric to said pivot lit is clear that when the landing gear is being lowercd. i. e., when the landing strut 2- turns about its pivot 2, the gear wheel it rolls as a planet Wheel on the gear wheel or sun wheelportion l ii, thereby rotating the landing wheel lowards the end of the lowering stroke the gear wheel it gets disengaged from th gear wheel por tlon i5 owing to the fact that the gear wheel portion ill is made shorter than the stroke of the gear wheel it.

Of course, the invention is in no way limited to the details of construction illustrated or described which have only been given by way of example. be applied to retractable landing gears of any system and whatever be their operating mechanlsm; it is obvious that the position oi. the track for setting the wheel in motion varies according to the type of the landing gear, in particular according to whether the wheel is lowered from front to rear or from rear to front.

What I claim is:

l. The combination with a retractable landing gear including a landing wheel for aircraft, of means responsive to the lowering motion of said landing gear for setting said landing wheel into rotation.

2. A retractable wheel mounting including in combination a strut plvotally mounted about a substantially horizontal axis, a wheel rotatably mounted on a substantially horizontal axis and carried by said strut, a circular member coaxial with said last named axis and rotating with said wheel and means engaging said circular member during a part of the lowering operation of the strut for efiectlng rotation of the wheel.

3. A retractablewheel and tire mounting including in combination a strut pivotally mounted about a substantially horizontal axis, a wheel rotatably mounted on a substantially horizontal axis Thus, for example, the invention may and carried by said strut and a stationary track substantially coaxial with said first named axis and disposed for engagement with said tire during a part of the lowering operation of the strut for effecting rotation of the wheel.

4. A retractable wheel mounting including in combination a strut pivotally mounted about a substantially horizontal axis, ajointed member pivoted to said strut and rotating with reference to said strut during retraction and lowering operations, a Wheel rotatably mounted on a substantially horizontal axis and carried by said strut, a circular member coaxial with said last named axis and rotating with said wheel and a track carried by said jointed member and mounted to engage said circular member during a part of the lowering operation.

5. A retractable wheel mounting including in combination a strut pivotally mounted about a substantially horizontal axis, locking means for locking said strut in its retracted position, a wheel rotatably mounted on a substantially horizontal axis and carried by said strut, a circular member coaxial with said wheel and rotating therewith, a track, means mounting said track for motion between a position in which it is disposed for rolling engagement with said circular member and a rest position, means for releasing said looking means, and an operative connection between said track and said last named means to move said track towards its engaging position when unlocking the said strut.

CHARLES RAYMOND WASEIGE. 

